Arizona judicial conduct panel reprimands justice of the peace

PHOENIX (AP) — A state commission has formally reprimanded a Maricopa County justice of the peace of violating state ethics rules during his 2016 election campaign.

The Arizona Commission on Judicial Conduct announced Wednesday that it issued the formal reprimand against Moon Valley Justice Andrew Hettinger. It is the only sanction the panel can take without the state Supreme Court stepping in. The high court can censure, suspend or remove a judge from office.

The commission found Hettinger acquired a website domain another candidate planned to use and redirected traffic to his own election site. He also failed to properly mark as campaign literature banners on his Facebook page.

Hettinger acknowledged making mistakes and wanted the commission to dismiss the complaint against him and only caution him in an advisory letter.